Search This Blog

Posts

The Singapore Exchange's new regulatory unit SGX Regco -
known as Singapore Exchange Regulation Pte Ltd in full - commences operations
in about a month's time. Its incorporation represents the latest step in an
evolutionary process that began some 17 years ago when SGX was first formed and
floated on the stock market as a listed regulator, an arrangement that has not
sat comfortably with the market and, it would be fair to say, one that the
exchange itself has struggled to justify.
So it is that the formation of SGX RegCo was announced in
April, the intention being that it will be a separate, independent body to
oversee listing and regulatory issues as well as conduct surveillance and
enforce market discipline.
Since then, there have been calls to make SGX RegCo, which
will be a wholly owned SGX subsidiary, truly independent of the exchange and
not influenced in any way by profit-driven objectives. This is a valid goal as
it is important not only for SGX RegCo to be operation…

Blumont Group has received a mandatory takeover bid from
Malaysian businessman Siaw Lu Howe at 0.0182 Singapore cent apiece.
The mandatory unconditional cash offer was triggered
following the acquisition of a 69.56 per cent stake in Blumont by Ultimate Horizon
- a vehicle owned by Mr Siaw, who has businesses in hospitality, real estate
and mining services primarily in Sarawak - on Thursday for S$4 million or
0.018172 Singapore cent per share.
In an announcement on the Singapore Exchange, the offeror
said that the offer is final and will not be revised.
Trading in Blumont shares was halted on Thursday pending
release of the announcement. The counter was last traded at 0.1 Singapore cent.
The offeror said that it plans to undertake a review of the
group's business following the offer's close and to identify areas to enhance
Blumont's strategic direction and operations.
As part of the review, the offeror may undertake an
assessment of the group's human resource requireme…

The board of Ipco International has affirmed its view that
the company can remain a going concern and that all material disclosures have
been provided to the market.
Those statements came on Tuesday after the market closed in
response to queries by the Singapore Exchange.
The independent auditor of Ipco, a diversified holding
company, in its latest audit report raised questions about Ipco's ability to
continue as a business, citing the company's net current liability position and
a lack of evidence to support expectations of future cash flows.
Ipco's board said in its announcement that its view that the
going concern assumption was valid was based on optimism about three
subsidiaries.
The first is Capri Investments, a fully owned property development
outfit in the Seattle and Tacoma cities in the US state of Washington. That
subsidiary expects to market 261 lots this year, and has negotiated to put them
up for sale for US$13 million in total. Capri's management expect…

Volatility in the share prices of mining companies at the
exploration stages is common in Australia, where 40% of the listed stocks are
mining companies that are still junior explorers.
According to experienced mining executive Barry Eldridge,
this has been the case in many Australian- listed mining companies which was
similar to the recent selldown in the share prices of three Singapore-listed
companies.
“It is a sort of gamble on the prospects of huge reserves
and feasible production.
“Chances are probably less than one in 10, but investors
still buy in as the rewards are huge if the selected mining company is
successful. The risk is certainly there,” he told StarBiz recently.
However, he said things would typically settle down after
the euphoria was over with these mining companies as they moves along their
development stage into production, whereby the companies could be valued based
on their proven resources and reserves.
Eldridge is the chairman of the Diggers and Dealers, an
i…

Frontline stockmarket regulator SGX (Singapore Exchange) and
its supervisor MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) were criticised by
research firm Iceberg Research last month for not acting over the past 30
months during which the shares of commodities firm Noble Group crashed by more
than 90 per cent following publication of Iceberg's first attack on Noble's
financials in early 2015.
The main point of contention is that Noble's alleged overly
aggressive accounting should have been flagged earlier by SGX and MAS, with the
implied suggestion that had this been done, the market's interests would have
been better served
Could regulators have done more? Critics will say yes, but
it certainly isn't clear that this is the case.
First, it has to be noted that SGX adopts an evidence-based
regulatory approach, which means that it would intervene or take action only if
the evidence warrants it.
As pointed out by Securities Investors Association of
Singapore (SIAS) president…

The High Court has rejected a bid by the alleged mastermind
of the 2013 penny stock crash to get documents and witness statements he
claimed could support his bail application.
Justice See Kee Oon ruled that John Soh Chee Wen's request
amounted to a "fishing expedition", and pointed to "a real risk
that disclosure of witnesses' statements to the extent sought will prejudice a
fair trial, as the applicant can find ways to tailor his evidence ahead of
trial".
Soh believes that prosecutors unfairly picked out portions
of recorded conversations and witness statements that were detrimental to him
when they opposed his bail application in February.
He wanted the High Court to allow him access to all
recordings of conversations between him and remisier Gabriel Gan, and all
witness statements obtained from Mr Gan, trading representative Ken Tai and
former LionGold executive Peter Chen that contradict the allegations made by
prosecutors.
Soh was refused bailafter h…

Who doesn't love a company that's on the cusp of getting
another shot at reinvigorating itself, huh? Such fascination, albeit premature
at this point, led traders to lap up Singapore-listed Rowsley's stock last week
after the company unveiled a ground-shifting all-share S$1.9 billion deal to
revive its fortunes and move into the largely lucrative healthcare space.
But lest one forgets, this follows five years after the
firm, controlled by billionaire Peter Lim, took its chance on a S$580 million
transformational plan to inject a huge plot of waterfront land in Malaysia's
then-booming Iskandar and one of Singapore's oldest architect firms RSP into
the company.
Then, the reverse takeover deal aimed at turning the firm
into a real estate bigwig had also galvanised the stock but alas till today, it
has yet to live up to its lofty expectations.
This wasn't its first makeover bid that had set off a buying
frenzy of its shares. Back in 2007, Rowsley, then somewhat du…

You have wandered far from the gleaming towers of Singtel
and DBS and the verdant hills of Bukit Sembawang. Nay, these places are not for
your kind. The minimum lot size is too big and the share price is too high.
Staring glumly at a NetLink Trust manhole, studiously
ignoring the Rowsley touts, you wonder: Is there anything more edgy?
And that's how you found yourself deep down by the dark
waters of the Singapore Exchange (SGX) sewers.
The S-chip stench is the first smell that hits you, as you
grope your way through a dim cavern oozing with corporate effluence. You gag
slightly from the whiffs of corporate governance scandals past, missing cash,
failing businesses, uncollectable receivables and disappearing executives in
China's Fujian province.
Something almost makes you trip over. Brandishing your
National Day Parade Funpack lightstick, you see a lump of coal with the word
"Noble" etched on it. It looks like a cheap - albeit dirty -
paperweight, maybe a potent wea…

Market observers agree with Iceberg Research that regulators
did not do enough to protect investors
Singapore stock market regulators are coming under pressure,
with market observers on Friday joining Iceberg Research in saying that more
could have been done to protect investors in the long-drawn Noble Group saga.
Their comments come as the Monetary Authority of Singapore
(MAS) responded on Friday morning to Iceberg's criticism, saying that it will
follow up with listed companies to investigate any allegations of
irregularities.
Corporate governance advocate Mak Yuen Teen, an associate
professor at the National University of Singapore, said Iceberg's criticism is
not without merit.
He told The Business Times: "While I can understand the
regulators being hesitant to do anything, especially when there is no clear
wrongdoing - and bearing in mind that Noble has been receiving clean audit
opinions - there is a sense among investors that the regulators are too passive
and rea…

He wants prosecution to furnish all information, documents
he deems relevant to bail application
The man accused of masterminding the 2013 penny stock crash
told a remisier before he was arrested in November 2016 that he did not think
investigators had a strong case against him, but he believed they would still
find a way to charge him and seek a prison sentence, it was revealed in
arguments before the High Court on Wednesday.
Lawyers for John Soh Chee Wen want the court to compel
prosecutors to provide documents, including all recordings of conversations
between Soh and that remisier, that they say are relevant to their client's
bail application.
The prosecution, however, argued that the application is
tantamount to fishing for evidence.
Justice See Kee Oon said that he wanted time to consider the
arguments made on Wednesday before giving his ruling, and has adjourned the
case to Aug 8.
Soh is seeking all audio recordings of conversations between
him and remisier Gabriel Gan; an…